So I came across a bunch of Indian Head pennies and buffalo nickels and so on and so forth but I came across this 1905 Indian Head penny that looks like it's been cracked on the front Maybe but the odd thing about it is it's completely blank on the back it does not have the one cent stamp mark on the back it's completely blank. I'm wondering if it's an error can anybody please tell me if this is significant or not and if it's worth anything. The other Curious Thing is and this just could be a coincidence but there looks like a carved"J" carved in the blank back and the fact that that the designer and engraver of these pennies happens to be named James and I'm wondering if that "J" stands for James as in him and maybe possibly he put it on there.
As of now what you have is a very damaged penny and nothing more. What it looks like is someone started to try to make a Love Token out of that penny and then just gave up. After grinding/sanding off the back, It was just too much work to finish it. Or maybe he and the girl broke up. Anyway, that's why it's called a Love Token because it takes a Lotta Love for someone to put so much work into making one. Most Love Tokens are made on silver coins because with silver being more valuable, that adds to the Love! You can search Love Tokens on eBay and see wassup wit dat. There's hundreds of them.
Obverse - Scratches Reverse - Ground down with letter J etched into copper.. As stated, all damage Not a mint error.. No premium.
You think that poor guy, 114 years ago, was making this love token and the girl was all like - seriously, on a cent? How cheap are you? Why don’t you make it on a dime or something shiny?... and he just gave up and dumped her.
I have a 1905 and 1907 Indian head. Can you tell me what to look for that would make the coins special?
Hi SDV , something special would be some photos so we could see the coins and thus, know what we're workin' with. Usually people look for certain dates and mint marks, also for mint errors. Remember, that every date and mm combo is not rare nor valuable. A good book like the Red Book, available on Amazon for about $15, is probably the best resource for beginners to use to start learning about which coins to look for, and to research any coins you may already have, such as those two. It's always best, as a newbie with questions about your own coins, to start your own thread, rather than piggy back on some one else's. Make some pix and start a new thread in the correct forum for your coins and members will find your coins and questions and respond to your concerns. For example, the OP (original poster) here posted his pix on a thread in "Error Coins" because that's what he believes/believed his coins to be. As you learn the "ropes" around here, you'll become more adept at using the available resources to find what you need, and hopefully, increase your enjoyment of our site. As always, Welcome to Coin Talk !!
Hi GG , when you add your pix/post/questions to another person's thread, your post sorta gets "lost" on the tail end of the other post and it may not get the notice or the responses you want or need to answer your question. If members have already read the beginnings of a particular thread , they won't necessarily be following it and find a "piggy-backed post". However, what you appear to have there is called a "grease filled die" strike. Ofttimes the dies are polished, with grease, between several series of strikes. Sometimes, the grease fills a portion of the die and prevents the filled portion from being properly struck. I can't give you a value because I'm not totally familiar with Indian Head Cents or with this type of error. Start your own thread with this coin and these pictures and you will get your own answers. Thanks GG and Welcome to Coin Talk !!
Yes, grease filled die letter is most likely. Look over this site: https://www.indiancent.com/ https://www.indiancent.com/about-us-eerc/ The owner is Richard Snow , the foremost expert on the subject I know. The Snow-1, etc. variety numbers are named after his work. Jim
